THE ORBÁN EFFECT AND HARASSMENT AT EU’S GENDER EQUALITY AGENCY

We started the week with the Hungarian election, which delivered an expected victory to Viktor Orbán. And we start the podcast with the Hungarian-American journalist Kati Marton discussing the Orbán effect.

Back in Brussels, POLITICO’s Ginger Hervey reveals that sexual harassment is everywhere, even in the one place you’d think it could never happen: the EU’s own Institute for Gender Equality, which the podcast panel tackles as an EU WTF moment. And in our feature interview this week, we talk to Jan Philipp Albrecht, Green MEP and the European Parliament’s Mr. Data Protection, who’s off to run a new mega-ministry back home in Germany.

ONE-ON-ONE

Steering the world’s most radical privacy legislation through the European Parliament would be the career peak of most 30-year-olds. After plenty of lost sleep on that topic, MEP Jan Philipp Albrecht, now 35, has a new dream job: minister for digitization, agriculture, energy and the environment in the northern German state of Schleswig-Holstein.

For Albrecht, the new role is a chance to transform not only his own career and image, but the way the government treats his respective portfolios.

He told EU Confidential that having each government department deal with digitization in its own haphazard way is “completely the wrong approach” and that instead “we need to bring horizontal competencies together.

“With this new ministry, everything is in one house, so I can actually do that. I can bring together farmers with those working on robotics, or energy producers with those working on data protection.

“Especially in the field of energy and agriculture, there is a lot of new developments that will completely change the way we produce agriculture, food and energy and how we live together. For a Green, all of these issues are very important, but for someone who is also into digitization it’s also a huge transformation happening, and bringing that all together is somehow a dream job.”

Albrecht isn’t planning on disappearing from the EU scene: not when there’s a German commissioner drafting the next long-term EU budget, or a European Parliament election in 2019 that demands awareness-raising.

“One of the ideas which I had after nine years now in the European Parliament is that people, especially young politicians, they need to go with the European mind and knowledge into national governments. And here of course it’s one of the 16 German states. I would certainly like to bring forward a change in agriculture financing in the MFF [the EU’s long-term budget]; that is one of the big angles where we can have an impact on, together with others in Europe. And I’d really like to change the way we talk and debate about the national impact on EU policy. Because I’m really almost a little bit fed up by national governments not talking about their role on the EU level.”

While he’s proud of his work stopping ACTA, the anti-counterfeiting trade agreement, and establishing the European Public Prosecutor’s Office, Albrecht remains most proud of the EU’s General Data Protection Legislation (GDPR) as the countdown begins to its implementation on May 25.

“In a democracy it’s almost impossible to create something perfect, but I would say that we are very near to it. This piece of legislation will in the future turn out to be better than many people think right now,” Albrecht said.

TALK OF THE TOWN

Fishy formula: Is there anything Miriam González Durantez can’t do? The former Brussels denizen, high-powered polyglot lawyer and ex-second lady of Britain runs a food blog (there’s already a recipe book) with her two sons. A recent entry serves up Brexit realness with a pinch of love: “This week we saw the Brexiteers throwing haddock into the river Thames, a sin worthy of ex-communication to any Spaniard. Most of the fish from U.K. waters is actually sold to Europeans, so when Brexit kicks in the Brexiteers are going to have a hell of a lot of fish to eat. Since deep down I am a good girl (very-very-extremely deep down as far as Brexiteers are concerned), I thought I would give them a fish recipe so that they can start practising.”

Know your audience: The Dutch Friesland province will after only one week remove a new road. The road comes complete with a service that plays the Frisian anthem to drivers, thanks to carefully placed ribbing in the asphalt. Dutch public broadcaster NOS reported the road was meant to reward with a tune drivers who stick to the speed limit, but residents complained the noise was akin to “mental torture.”

Digi day divide: The European Commission this week held a digital day. It was very pleased to show off 25 countries supporting cooperation on artificial intelligence. The audience was less excited about 13 of them feeling the need to debate the idea together on the same stage.

WE SPY …

Coyote ugly: Les Aviateurs, a bar in Strasbourg notorious as a place where MEPs and their staff go to play while away from home, has a new Tuesday theme night. The text claims the idea behind the evening is “women take control.” We’ll let you be the judge of that based on the promotional poster for the evening, below.

EU WTF?!

Between David Davis blaming Ireland’s left-wing Sinn Féin for the right-wing Irish government’s Brexit views, and the EU’s own gender equality agency being affected by sexual harassment, there are many contenders for WTF of the week. However, there’s something special about the unexpected tipping point in Hungary’s free media battles. This week, the Lajos Simicska-owned Magyar Nemzet announced its closure. That’s the oligarch and newspaper formerly known as Viktor Orbán’s best friends. That all changed two years ago when Simciska and Magyar Nemzet turned against the government. These unlikely symbols of resistance folded just a day after of Orbán’s election win, meaning all of Hungary’s daily print newspapers are now either under government control or have informal agreements on content with Orbán’s government. Lanchid Radio, also owned by Simicska, will cease operations. Hungary’s chief rabbi also resigned and Budapest’s Central European University is opening a branch in Vienna.

SEPARATED AT BIRTH

POLITICO WINS BRUSSELS BUBBLE FOOTBALL CUP: It wasthird time lucky for POLITICO as we won the Brussels Bubble Football Cup Monday evening, defeating defending champion H+K Strategies in the final by 5 goals to 1. FleishmanHillard were very lucky to finish third: the biggest consultancy in town showed up with only two players and had to rely on other teams offering them substitutes in order to make it on the pitch.Write to EU Confidentialif you want information on how to enter a team in the next edition of the tournament (every four months or so).